Austria could ban new gas and diesel cars by 2020

Renewables International

The end of the internal combustion engine may be nearer than carmakers think. The Austrian Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is working on a study that would mean an end to conventional cars sales… four years from now. And it’s the fourth country doing so, though the dates differ.

Add Austria to the list of countries (India, Netherlands, and Norway) that are considering banning sales of new non-electric vehicles. In the case of those in parentheses, the target year is 2025. Austria is more ambitious.

According to a report from Austria (in German), a carbon tax could also be in the works. But the report (which has been reposted in boilerplate fashion elsewhere) is confusing: it sounds as though environmental organizations had the country’s Environmental Agency conduct a study. In Germany, it usually works the other way around.

It is also unclear to me whether the scenario published by IG Windkraft (in German) is the one calling for 100% new EVs by 2020. The website does not speak of such a demand, as the Austrian press reports seem to indicate. But since the folks at IG Windkraft read this website, maybe they can drop us a comment below – though you may also want to follow me on Twitter because they might respond there instead.

IG Windkraft’s scenario has 91 percent renewable energy (not just electricity!) by 2050. Green power would cover 100 percent of demand net by 2030. Austria would also have 78 percent renewable district heat. By 2050, biomass would be the largest source of energy at 35 percent of demand.